Thoughts and observations about Modesto and Stanislaus County

Archive for the day “April 5, 2012”

Back in 2007 Mike Moody wrote an article against San Francisco taking 52,000 acre feet out of the Tuolumne River but now the Editorial Staff is backing the initiative.

Interesting, they didn’t want us to let some else have it but it’s okay to sell it.

MID, TID challenge SF water assumptions

Amount ofTuolumnewater to SF worrisome, they say, particularly in a drought

By Mike Moody

San Francisco’s plan to take more water from theTuolumneRiver– especially in dry years — faces a challenge from theModestoandTurlockirrigation districts.

MID and TID leaders suspect faulty assumptions may have led the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission to overstate how much river water would be available to divert during a drought year.

“That’s probably our biggest concern,” the MID’s Walt Ward said Wednesday, “the assumption that 27,000 acre-feet can be diverted from the river (even) during dry years.”
That is about 24 million gallons a day.

MID officials are confused, saying that there is no extra water flowing in theTuolumne, especially in a drought year.

Diverting more water by 2030 — San Francisco already diverts 225 million gallons a day from the Tuolumne — is a key part of a $4.3 billion San Francisco Public Utilities Commission plan to refurbish and rebuild its Hetch Hetchy water conveyance system.

Back on October 1, 2007 MID got together with TID and issued a joint letter to Paul Maltzer Environmental Review Officer WSIP DEIR.

In this letter they argue against a proposed diversion of 27,000 Acre Feet of water to San Francisco from the Tuolumne River. This is exactly what they WANT to do now. The letter talks about the harm that will be caused bythe proposed diversion.

Please read the letter for yourselves and question the reason for the complete about face and the motives of MID leadership and staff.